Inti Peruvian Becoming The Cajun Experience DC

Just last week we learned that Inti Peruvian Restaurant had closed at 1825 18th St. NW. Turns out we already know who is moving into the space – The Cajun Experience DC. According to a recent liquor license application, they will be a:

“Casual restaurant serving Cajun southern comfort foods with a seating capacity for 46 patrons and a total occupancy load of 70. Request a summer garden with 24 seats and entertainment endorsement featuring a DJ, combo band playing jazz and blues.”

December 2008, during a hard recession in the US economy, a thing most people thought couldn’t be done was born. While sitting in a house in Ashburn, Virginia, Bryan and Melissa Crosswhite finally stated the obvious; Cajun food is what the world needs to experience.

With a few hundred dollars in the bank, and Bryan on unemployment, the couple took on a challange. They decided to test the market to see if people would want this great food which the Crosswhites loved and charished.

Melissa cooked the dishes and Bryan took off with a marketing plan. The plan was to contact 3 major companies in the area and offer them a free lunch as long as they gave us feedback on the food. The response was overwhelming and people began to ask where they could get such food.

Over the next three months, Bryan and Melissa turned a small 1700 sq foot historical house into today’s Cajun Experience. With around $30,000 raised by their friends and family, the dream was born. People from DC, Baltimore, Richmond, West Virginia and Pennsylvania flocked to have “a taste of South Louisiana”

Five months into the business, The Cajun Experience was featured in The Washingtonian magazine in “Best Bites”, and less than a year later, June, 2010, was named one of the “Top 100 Best Bargain Restaurants” by The Washingtonian. The restaurant has also been featured in The Washington Post and The Washington Business Journal.

In October, 2010, a second location was established in Purcellville, VA, and The Cajun Experience is currently seeking locations in the DC metro area.

I’ll be sure to update when they open up. Anyone ever check out either of their Virginia locations?

I love it! This is a tricky space but I respect the ambition of owners. No restaurant has survived long here, even though Inti and the Afghan place before it were good. I’ll be there and I hope they’re open for lunch too.

Hey DC!, Yes we are coming in January! I am the owner of the Cajun Experience and we are excited about the new place. Total reconstruction of the inside, and yeah it will be the OFFICIAL SAINTS BAR!!! All those good dishes from Leesburg will be here and plus more! By the way if you like good drinks, we have the top New Orleans drinks! We will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (Serving hot beignets everyday!)

Watch us on fb or twitter (The Cajun Experience) or @cajunexperiencehttp://www.cajunexperience.biz
703.209.2358 if you wanna call and get a status update!

I have eaten at their Leesburg location, as well as twice at the new DC location and I can attest to both the authenticity and the quality of the Cajun dishes that Cajun Experience is serving at those two locations. For all of you Cajun food lovers, this is the place that you have all been pining for in the DC area. So get yourselves to Cajun Experience and dig in. And as we say, don’t forget to “pass a good time” while you are there.